A number of studies show that hypnosis can reduce the pain experienced during burn-wound debridement, bone marrow aspirations, and childbirth. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis found that hypnosis relieved the pain of 75% of 933 subjects participating in 27 different experiments.
Hypnosis is effective in reducing pain from and coping with cancer and other chronic conditions. Nausea and other symptoms related to incurable diseases may also be managed with hypnosis. Some practitioners have claimed hypnosis might help boost the immune system of people with cancer.
The American Psychological Association published a study
comparing the effects of hypnosis, ordinary suggestion and placebo in
reducing pain. The study found that highly suggestible individuals
experienced a greater reduction in pain from hypnosis compared with
placebo, whereas less suggestible subjects experienced no pain reduction
from hypnosis when compared with placebo. Ordinary non-hypnotic
suggestion also caused reduction in pain compared to placebo, but was
able to reduce pain in a wider range of subjects (both high and low
suggestible) than hypnosis. The results showed that it is primarily the
subject's responsiveness to suggestion, whether within the context of
hypnosis or not, that is the main determinant of causing reduction in
pain.
